Baby’s First Post, or Gluten Free Taco Bake

August 13, 2013

Before I get into the recipe, I thought I’d introduce myself since I’m definitely not the Billford. I’m a 20-something punk kid who should be eating all the junk he wants, not caring what he puts into his body, telling himself he’ll worry about it when he’s 30-something. And until a week ago, I was that kid. Despite being diagnosed with Crohn’s disease at 18, I generally chose to eat whatever I wanted regardless of how it made me feel. For a long time, my justification was that everything made me feel like crap, so why should I bother being picky? For nearly 5 years, I used that argument. My Crohn’s is more-or-less under control (and by that I mean I’m not on a steady decline towards a hospital bed anymore), but I still longed for the way I felt out of high school.

About a year ago, maybe two at this point because time all bleeds together, I watched billford begin a crazy ridiculous transformation based almost entirely on diet (at least at first). This guy who I thought was eating so much better than me somehow started eating even better, and I watched as his health problems melted away (maybe not completely, but I think even he would be hard pressed to say he still feels as bad as he did). And still, I kept telling myself that it didn’t matter what I ate, I was going to feel the same way, so why bother. “The doctor didn’t tell me to make any dietary changes so that means I don’t have to”. I had tons of variations of my excuses, and they were all just as bad.

A week ago today, something clicked in my head. I started reading about a diet I had looked at a long time ago called the Specific Carb Diet. I gave it little attention because, at the time, there was no science behind it. Just some crazy author writing a book. Then in 2011, the University of Massachusetts Medical Center did a study using a diet similar to the SCD. 100% (yes, all of them) of the patients on the diet had “significant improvement” in their symptoms, and the majority were able to decrease their medication. Out of nowhere, there was suddenly evidence that there was a diet for me. I did some more research, and later I realized that SCD is pretty similar to the paleo diet. And so Monday last week was my last “bad” day. I ate a big greasy wake’n’bacon from Melt (I didn’t touch my fries to make sure I could finish the whole sandwich) and Tuesday, I began the journey.

Here’s the tl;dr: I’m new to this gluten/dairy/whatever free diet that I’m making up for myself, and I’m already LONGING for the things I used to eat. (I will find gluten free noodles even if I have to make them myself) And so, my first “Well I **USED** to eat it, how can I make a healthier version” recipe. (NOTE: Gluten Free Bisquick is kinda… well its still not the healthiest thing. I found a couple recipes for alternatives I’ll try out and update).

SEASONING: Mix together all of these ingredients, set aside. This is equivalent to 1 packet of taco seasoning.

Tomorrow is Taco Tuesday at my house, and I plan to use this taco seasoning to make the meat. I might also try out some recipes for gluten free tortillas. We’ll see. Anyways, hopefully more exciting gluten free recipes to come. My goal is to make healthy versions of all of the crap I used to eat, and then grow into the “grown up” sorts of food people are supposed to eat. Wish me luck.